Griffon Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue rose 7% organically to $481 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased 2% to $125 million; adjusted EPS was $1.51 versus $1.39 a year ago.
  • Positive Sentiment: Griffon maintained fiscal 2026 guidance of $1.8 billion in revenue and $458 million in adjusted EBITDA, with full-year free cash flow expected to exceed net income.
  • Positive Sentiment: The Australasia joint venture closed with $181 million in cash, a $49 million note receivable and a 49% equity stake; proceeds helped repay the remaining $285 million term loan, reducing pro forma net leverage to approximately 2.0 times.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Residential door volume declined slightly amid soft U.S. housing conditions, although commercial volume was flat and fan volume more than offset the residential weakness; management expects seasonal improvement in the fourth quarter.
  • Positive Sentiment: Management expects the recent price increase to offset higher raw-material, labor, energy and logistics costs, supporting EBITDA margins of at least 25%, while longer-term housing recovery and commercial applications such as data centers and pharmaceutical facilities could provide operating leverage.
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Earnings Conference Call
Griffon Q3 2026
00:00 / 00:00

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Operator

Good day, and welcome to the Griffon Corporation fiscal third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Brian Harris, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to Griffon Corporation's third quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call. Joining me for this morning's call is Ron Kramer, Griffon's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Our press release was issued earlier this morning and is available on our website at www.griffon.com. Today's call is being recorded, and the replay instructions are included in our earnings release. Our comments will include forward-looking statements about Griffon's performance. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that can change as the world changes. Please see the cautionary statements in today's press release and in our SEC filings. Finally, some of today's remarks will adjust for items that affect comparability between periods. These items are explained in our non-GAAP reconciliations included in our press release. With that, I'll turn the call over to Ron.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

Thanks, Brian. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us. Griffon has executed particularly well this quarter, which is reflected in today's solid operational and financial results. In the quarter, revenue increased organically by 7% and EBITDA by 2%, while generating strong year-to-date free cash flow of $194 million. Given our performance for the first nine months of the fiscal year, we're maintaining our revenue and EBITDA guidance for the year of $1.8 billion and $458 million, respectively. Our team's performance remains outstanding, showing resiliency, managing through dynamic global economic conditions, including soft U.S. housing and commercial construction markets. Regarding our strategic actions, earlier this week, we were very pleased to announce the closing of the joint venture for our Australasia business. At closing, we received $181 million in cash, a $49 million note receivable, and a 49% equity interest.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

The closing of the Australasia transaction concludes a series of strategic actions that have transformed Griffon into a pure-play building products company. From these transactions, we received a total of $281 million in cash, $210 million in 10% PIK notes, while retaining minority interest with a book value of $139 million and an opportunity for further value creation. Turning to capital allocation, during the third quarter, we repurchased $53 million of our stock, or 626,000 shares, at an average price of $85 per share. At June 30, $194 million remained under the repurchase authorization. We continue to believe our stock is a compelling value. Since April 2023 and through June, we've repurchased $664 million of stock, or 12.1 million shares, at an average price of $54.86.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

These repurchases have reduced Griffon's outstanding shares by 21% relative to the total shares outstanding at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2023. Subsequent to the June quarter, we repaid the remaining term loan B balance of $285 million using the combination of proceeds from our strategic actions and our revolver. Yesterday, the Griffon board authorized a regular quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share payable on September 16th to shareholders of record on August 31st, marking the 60th consecutive quarterly dividend to shareholders. Our dividend has grown at an annualized compounded rate of 19% since we initiated dividends in 2012. These actions reflect the strength of our business, the successful execution of our strategic initiatives, and our continued confidence in our strategic plan and outlook. I'll turn it over to Brian for more details on the financial results.

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Thank you, Ron. Third quarter revenue of $481 million represents an increase of 7% compared to the prior year quarter, benefiting from favorable price and mix of 6% and increased volume of 1%. Third quarter Adjusted EBITDA of $125 million increased 2% compared to the prior year quarter, benefiting from the increased revenue, partially offset by increased material and SG&A costs. EBITDA margin was 25.9%. Gross profit for the quarter was $226 million, with a 47% gross margin, compared to $219 million in the prior year quarter, with a gross profit margin of 48.7%. Third quarter adjusted selling, general, and administrative expenses were $111 million, or 23% of revenue, compared to the prior year of $106 million, or 23.7% of revenue.

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Third quarter GAAP income from continuing operations was $66 million, or $1.47 per share, compared to a loss from continuing operations of $109 million in the prior year quarter, or $2.40 per share, primarily due to prior year third quarter goodwill and intangible impairment charges. Excluding items that affect comparability from both periods, current quarter adjusted net income from continuing operations was $68 million or $1.51 per share, compared to the prior year of $64 million or $1.39 per share. Year-to-date free cash flow from continuing operations was $194 million, compared to $202 million in the prior year. Year-to-date net capital expenditures were $24 million, compared to $32 million in the prior year. We expect free cash flow continuing operations for the full fiscal year will be in excess of income from continuing operations.

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Regarding our balance sheet and liquidity, as of June 30, 2026, we had net debt of $1.2 billion and net debt to EBITDA leverage of 2.2x, as calculated based on our debt covenants, compared to 2.5x leverage at the end of last year's third quarter. During the first nine months of the fiscal year, we returned $135 million to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks, while reducing leverage from 2.4x in September 2025 to 2.2x at the end of June. All leverage amounts exclude notes receivable from the transaction. Pro forma for the closing of the Australasia transaction on July 31, our net leverage is approximately 2.0x. With the strategic initiative substantially complete and the term loan B paid off, our new net debt to EBITDA leverage target range is 1.5x-2.5x.

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Regarding our expectations for the year, we are maintaining our fiscal 2026 revenue and EBITDA guidance based on the results we have seen year-to-date. We continue to expect revenue of $1.8 billion for fiscal 2026 on a continuing operations basis, and Adjusted EBITDA of $458 million, which excludes certain charges that affect comparability. We continue to expect free cash flow from continuing operations to exceed net income from continuing operations. We also continue to expect capital expenditures to be $50 million, depreciation to be $27 million, and amortization to be $15 million. Fiscal year 2026 interest expense is now expected to be $80 million, reflecting a $13 million reduction from prior guidance, resulting from debt paydown and the benefit of interest income from the transaction PIK note receivable. Normalized tax rate is expected to be 28%. I'll turn the call back over to Ron.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

Thanks, Brian. Our fiscal 2026 remains on track with our guidance. Our teams are executing well, as evidenced by our solid operating performance this quarter and year-to-date. We remain confident in our financial outlook. We're optimistic that residential and commercial markets will return to growth, and expect to realize substantial operating leverage as activity improves. With respect to capital allocation, we are committed to using our strong operating performance and free cash flow to drive a capital allocation strategy that delivers long-term value for our shareholders. This includes supporting our quarterly dividend, opportunistically repurchasing shares, and reducing debt. As always, I'd like to recognize the outstanding efforts of the teams across our business. It's their dedication and performance that drive our success. We're grateful for all of their contributions. Operator, we'll take any questions.

Operator

We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note we ask that you ask just one question and one follow-up, please. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. The first question is from Tim Wojs with Baird. Please go ahead.

Tim Wojs
Tim Wojs
Analyst at Baird

Hey, everybody. Good morning. Nice job.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

Thanks, Tim.

Tim Wojs
Tim Wojs
Analyst at Baird

Hey, maybe just on the first one, first question I had. I think in the overhead door business, one of your competitors is going through some consolidation efforts, and our understanding is they've had some issues manufacturing and shipping. Is that something that you're seeing in the marketplace, and is that an opportunity for you from a share perspective?

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

We remain more than capable to fulfill demand that is out there. We continue to perform well in the market and trust our dealers, our customers, to install our products well and continue to benefit from that.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

We're always looking to increase market share.

Tim Wojs
Tim Wojs
Analyst at Baird

Okay. I guess on the business, 6% price mix, it sounds like volume's up a little bit. Any additional color on just how the individual pieces performed? Whether it's replacement in residential or the commercial market, what performed better versus the overall average? Thanks.

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Sure. Door volume for the quarter was down slightly, driven by residential, and this was more than offset by the fan volume, leaving our commercial volume flat.

Operator

The next question is from Bob Labick with CJS Securities. Please go ahead.

Lee Jagoda
Lee Jagoda
Senior Managing Director at CJS Securities

Hey, it's Lee Jagoda for Bob this morning.

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Hey, Lee.

Lee Jagoda
Lee Jagoda
Senior Managing Director at CJS Securities

Just starting on the residential side, what are some of the growth drivers within your control to drive potentially some top line while we wait for housing starts and the macro?

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Yeah. We continue to execute on innovation, coming out with new products that have had good take in the market. Our designs over the last decade have brought our company and the entire door industry up to scale, we continue to perform on that basis. We are ready for any turn in volume that comes with a better housing market.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

I'd also add that Clopay is best in class, both in terms of product, service, and national footprint. Part of the dichotomy in the economy is the premium market continues to do well. We are very focused on the repair and remodel side of the premium better best category, and that continues to do well in an otherwise sluggish U.S. housing market. We continue to believe that there's upside in both transaction volume, and ultimately, new home construction that we'll be a beneficiary of, but it's a small part of our overall picture today.

Lee Jagoda
Lee Jagoda
Senior Managing Director at CJS Securities

On the commercial side, can you speak to how the commercial replacement cycle is similar or different to the residential side and where we stand in that cycle today?

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Generally, the replacement cycle on the commercial side is shorter, so we deem it as approximately seven years, depending on the product and location it's installed. New construction is relatively low compared to prior years, but we have a large install base. When new construction is lower, generally replacement and refurbishment of existing facilities is higher.

Operator

The next question is from Collin Verron with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Collin Verron
Collin Verron
Analyst at Deutsche Bank

Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. I just wanted to dive a little bit further into the price mix in the quarter. It was very strong at 6% again. Can you just break out the benefit in between price versus mix and sort of how you're thinking about those components going forward? I know mix can be a little bit volatile quarter-to-quarter.

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

For the quarter, price and mix were approximately equal. Looking forward, we had a price increase during the quarter, that'll continue to effectuate as we get through backlog. Mix is hard to predict, as we continue to bring new products to market, we continue to expect good mix.

Collin Verron
Collin Verron
Analyst at Deutsche Bank

Great. That's helpful. Just on the cost side, any help in thinking about the magnitude of COGS inflation that you guys are seeing and your expectations as you look out into the September quarter or maybe the beginning parts of fiscal year 2027?

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Sure. Obviously, all our expectations are in our guidance. We had the price increase, as I just mentioned. That was to offset increases in raw material, labor, energy, distribution logistics costs. We expect that, the price increase will keep our margins at 25%+.

Operator

The next question is from Trey Grooms with Stephens. Please go ahead.

Trey Grooms
Trey Grooms
Analyst at Stephens

Hey, good morning, everyone, and congrats on the nice results.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

Thanks, Trey. Good morning.

Trey Grooms
Trey Grooms
Analyst at Stephens

Good morning. Yeah, I wanted to kind of follow up with the price cost question. You've got the price increase in place. Raw materials, there has been some fluctuation. I know there's typically a lag there. I think we have a decent idea of how you're thinking about 4Q. All else equal, now that we have these things in place, as we look into next year, do you expect to see maybe a little more catch-up as we get into the fiscal 1Q or 2Q? Or do you feel like most of that kind of price cost catch-up is going to occur in 4Q?

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Most of that should occur in 4Q, but of course, you're lapping as the year goes into next year.

Trey Grooms
Trey Grooms
Analyst at Stephens

Yep.

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

We feel like we've put an appropriate price increase based on the inflationary costs, and we'll provide further guidance in November.

Trey Grooms
Trey Grooms
Analyst at Stephens

Okay, fair enough. Just trying to get an idea for the trajectory there as maybe we look a little bit further out, but that's fair enough. Maybe thinking about this a little bit longer term. Now as a pure play building products company, I know there's going to be leverage in the business as we kind of look forward over the longer term. As we get into a position where demand begins to improve, how are you thinking about these businesses over the longer term, kind of the incremental margin as we are looking at the business as it stands today, pure play building products. Within those two, how you think about the longer term kind of incremental margin opportunities as demand improves? You guys are putting up good results in a market that's operationally demanding. Demand is relatively challenged.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

Look, I think you have to look at where we've come from, the evolution of the business. Clopay is now both residential, commercial, and the drivers of both of those engines are going to be better in a better economy and a better housing market. Our results are both excellent, given the circumstances and the environment that we've been operating in. What you should take away is that our balance sheet is positioned for us to continue to grow the business. We have modest leverage on the company today, and we have significant operating leverage in the businesses. With any incremental growth in volume, you should expect us to have significantly higher free cash flow. That is exactly the way we've positioned the company for the long run.

Operator

The next question is from Sam Darkatsh with Raymond James. Please go ahead.

Sam Darkatsh
Sam Darkatsh
Analyst at Raymond James

Good morning, Ron. Good morning, Brian. How are you?

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

Doing great. How are you, Sam?

Sam Darkatsh
Sam Darkatsh
Analyst at Raymond James

I'm well. Thank you for asking. Two questions. The first one is, how did the quarter progress as we moved from April into June? Specifically, how does July look versus the trajectory of the rest of the quarter?

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Sure. Generally, as we move out of the winter season through the spring and into the summer, the months progress and continue to get better in our normal seasonality, that's exactly what we saw, we expect our fourth quarter to be our high point as it normally is, Q1 generally is similar to Q4.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

Trends in July continue.

Sam Darkatsh
Sam Darkatsh
Analyst at Raymond James

Good to hear. My follow-up question, given the smaller operating footprint post-AMES, any thoughts in terms of the corporate overhead on a go-forward basis? Thanks.

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Sure. We regularly review all our costs, and we'll continue to do so. Our guidance assumes EBITDA margin of 25%+, and that includes all costs.

Operator

The next question is from Julio Romero with Sidoti & Company. Please go ahead.

Julio Romero
Julio Romero
Analyst at Sidoti & Company

Thanks. Hey, good morning, Ron and Brian. Congrats on the execution and being a pure-play building products company. A lot of good questions this morning. Wanted to dive into more along Trey's line of questioning on the pure-play story going forward, and then your product positioning, particularly on the commercial side. You have best-in-class garage doors, and part of that is the innovation that you have in your doors. Can you maybe discuss how your doors can play a part in some of the emerging secular growth end markets that are out there, data centers, semiconductor, pharma, over the medium to longer term?

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Sure. Our products do play in all those spaces. In data centers, it's both entry and fire protection inside the facility. Our doors are used as partitions. In pharmacy and other tight places, our doors are used for security. We have actually very high-end secure doors that could even be used in embassies and places like that, and we continue to innovate and we'll continue to have product launches that meet the needs of both commercial and residential needs.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

To meet that demand, we've been building up an architectural sales force, getting significantly more inquiries. It's our belief that over time, our commercial business is going to grow in addition to the recovery in the U.S. housing market on the residential side. Commercial, everything you've identified are avenues of growth for us on the commercial side of the business.

Julio Romero
Julio Romero
Analyst at Sidoti & Company

That's great color, Ron. Do you get specced into those projects? If so, how far out does your visibility extend?

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

Longer lead time, as I said, we're seeing a meaningful increase in the number of inquiries which will lead to bids. It's a longer process, but we're very confident about what the future of that business is going to look like.

Operator

The next question is from Jeffrey Stevenson with Loop Capital. Please go ahead.

Jeffrey Stevenson
Jeffrey Stevenson
Analyst at Loop Capital

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions today.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

Morning.

Jeffrey Stevenson
Jeffrey Stevenson
Analyst at Loop Capital

You reported a nice step-up in sequential EBITDA margin during the quarter. Was this driven by the sequential volume improvement you saw? Was that the primary driver? Did you see incremental price realization as well from the spring Clopay price increases?

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

Yeah. It was definitely more from volume and mix. Price, we look at it as offsetting cost. Generally, our Q3 does see better volume compared to our Q2, as Q2 is our lowest volume quarter in the winter season.

Jeffrey Stevenson
Jeffrey Stevenson
Analyst at Loop Capital

Great. Then, congrats on the close of the Australian JV. You have large cash proceeds from both that and the North America joint venture as well. Just wonder, should we expect a balanced mix of share repurchases and debt paydown in line with your kind of historical capital strategy?

Brian Harris
Brian Harris
CFO at Griffon Corporation

From a free cash flow standpoint, we have a balanced approach between return of capital to shareholders and debt reduction. The money from the transactions was used to pay off our TLB, so that specifically was used for debt reduction.

Operator

This concludes the question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Ron Kramer, Chief Executive Officer, for any closing remarks.

Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Chairman and CEO at Griffon Corporation

We're encouraged by the outlook for our business and the momentum we've been building through our transformation. We've accomplished a lot, and we're positioned for continued growth and long-term value for our shareholders. Looking forward to talking to you again in November. Thanks.

Operator

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

Executives
    • Brian Harris
      Brian Harris
      CFO
    • Ron Kramer
      Ron Kramer
      Chairman and CEO
Analysts